Noe
Valley is known for its friendly family atmosphere. We've all heard the
stroller brigade and Volvo clichés, and on any given day the strip of
24th Street between Church and Diamond reinforces the stereotype with the force
of a thousand tail-wagging yellow labs. Young couples take in the afternoon
sun, with smoothie in hand and newborn in tow, and animated neighborhood
residents convene on nearly every street corner to catch up on the latest Noe
news.

While family is the operative word in Noe Valley, with the
advent of Starbucks, Rite Aid, La Salsa, and Tully's, family operations seem to
be fewer and farther between. Still, the family-owned Martha & Brothers
Coffee Company -- with two locations in Noe Valley -- has managed to thrive by
sticking to the characterization that fits the neighborhood so snugly.

"I
love my customers. They're like family to me," says owner Martha Guerrero
Monroy, who opened her first coffee shop in San Francisco more than 10 years
ago.

Ironically, Monroy 's own family occasionally takes a back seat to her
business. "I used to get so jealous," says Monroy's sister and longtime
business partner, Patricia Larizadeh. "Martha loves her work, and her customers
have been number one from day one. I would get upset because her customers were
her life. I used to have to look after her kids because she just kept working
and working."

Some might say coffee beans are in Martha Monroy's genes. Born
and raised in Nicaragua, she and her four siblings grew up drinking more coffee
than Kool-Aid on her uncle's plantation, once the largest coffee producer in
the country. "Everyone knew to come over to our house for a good cup of
coffee," says Larizadeh, who can't recall how old she was when she took her
first sip of java.

The two sisters moved to California in 1977, and with the
help of their father, opened the Castro Bean on Castro Street in 1986. "We
bought a small roaster and started roasting coffee at the store," explains
Larizadeh. "We were having a great time, but some merchants on the street went
to City Hall to complain about the smoke and smell."

However, the duo wasn't
deterred. "We bought a bigger roaster and moved it into a warehouse south of
Market and started expanding. We still roast all our own coffee over
there."

By December 1987, the bean baronesses had closed the Castro Bean and
opened the San Francisco Coffee Company (soon to be Martha's No. 1) at 3868
24th St. In the beginning, Monroy and her family lived in the small apartment
at the back of the store, which is now their office.

"My life was completely
at the store," says Monroy. "When you're there 24 hours a day for six years,
you figure out what works."

And figure it out they did. Faster than you can
say "blended non-fat latte," Monroy and Larizadeh had developed a set of
diehard customers and a far-reaching reputation for good coffee and friendly
service. It wasn't long before their brothers decided they wanted to share in
the bubbling enterprise.

In 1989, the sisters turned over their
tried-and-true business plan to eldest brother Sergio Guerrero, who opened a
second shop at 2800 California St. (near Divisadero). It was then that the
Martha & Brothers Coffee Company was born.

"My father helped me on the
condition that I would help my brothers. Whatever he had, he gave me," explains
Monroy. "He trusted me -- I don't know why, because he didn't trust me when I
was 16. My sister and I both knew how to drive, but he would send her
everywhere, never me," she laughs.

Younger brother Jaime Guerrero was soon to
follow with the third Martha's, at 1551 Church St. near Duncan. Then came
Monroy's older sister Mayra Martinez and her husband Noel Martinez, with a
slick new store at 2475 Mission St. Monroy opened the fifth coffee shop in her
empire last year, at 745 Cortland St. in Bernal Heights.

Though the clientele
at each outlet exudes its own distinct personality, the service is consistent
at all five Martha's: friendly, personal, and cheerful.

Monroy says the key
to her success is greeting customers with a smile and remembering their names
and orders. "I really like people and I know and love coffee, but I realize I'm
not just selling coffee," she says. "Some people tell me that I'm the only
smiling face they see all day."

Monroy's loyal clientele drink up her calm
and amicable demeanor with an espresso-fueled excitement. "I used to come here
for hours -- just to chat with Martha and to watch her work," says Paul, a
regular at the 24th Street store for more than five years.

David, who enjoys
a cup of Martha's brew at least three times a week, says Monroy's presence is
so strong, it rubs off on everybody in the shop. "I call Martha by name, and
everyone else is 'Little Martha,'" he jokes.

'Big' Martha presides over the
24th Street store six days a week. During busy hours, a brigade of expert
coffee slingers keeps the line of customers flowing, while Monroy's 70-year-old
mother, Stella Guerrero, makes sure pastries are sliced perfectly and grinders
are full. The shop serves the usual array of espresso drinks, mochas, lattes,
and cappuccinos, in addition to several frozen coffee concoctions.

The
store's interior is nothing fancy, with a few small tables, some wooden chairs,
a long counter, and a couple of shelves stacked with coffee merchandise.
Despite the bare-bones decor, the place maintains an inviting atmosphere.
Floor-to-ceiling windows open onto 24th Street, where a row of benches serves
as a local gathering spot that is almost always brimming with chatting
customers -- many of them longtime Martha's pals.

The Church Street store is
much more spacious and has room for a potted plant or two. But the crowd is
just as big, and the ambience just as friendly. Jaime's gregarious wife, Ivonne
Guerrero, and their two kids, Ivonne Mariel and Jaime Roberto, are the stars of
the welcoming committee here. At prime time -- 8:00 in the morning -- the line
stretches out the door, and the number of cars surrounding the corner of Duncan
and Church approaches double digits. In the afternoon, more dogs are hitched to
the posts than horses in Barbary Coast days.

Both Martha's outlets have
developed such loyal followings that many regulars experience guilt pangs when
patronizing other coffee shops. One longtime customer, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, carries an empty Martha's cup in her car in case she's
forced to buy coffee from another establishment. Another patron confides, "I
accidentally ran into a Martha's regular at Starbucks once, and we made a pact
not to tell anyone about the incident."

Monroy is just as hooked on her
coffee as her customers are. She drinks three cups each morning and downs
either a mocha or a latte in the afternoon. "If I go to a restaurant, I order
juice. On Sundays when I take the day off, I still go to one of the stores. I
can't drink coffee anywhere else. I have a cup even before I kiss my husband in
the morning."

As for the future of Martha & Brothers Coffee, Monroy says
she has no immediate plans for expansion, although she admits that lately she's
been eyeing a downtown location. Always one to keep it in the family, Monroy
explains, "The problem with opening other stores is that I don't have any more
brothers and sisters. We all have jobs now. We're complete!"

Amy
Isackson lives in Noe Valley and enjoys an occasional blended nonfat latte at
Martha's. David Thomsen, also a Noe Valleon, is a travel writer and author of
Burritos! Hot on the Trail of the Little Burro, published in
September.